Game Of Thrones’ Latest Casualty Speaks Out About ‘Fitting’ Death

There’s no shortage of death on Game of Thrones, but Sunday night’s season finale was especially brutal to the residents of Highgarden.

Now, major spoilers lie ahead, so if you don’t want to know what happened in the Season 6 finale, “The Winds of Winter,” then click away now.

With Cersei backed into a corner by the High Sparrow, she played the only card she had left: wildfire. In the stellar episode’s opening trial scene, Cersei—with some help from Qyburn, a few of his little birds, and her dear cousin Lancel—blew up the entire Sept of Baelor and those in it, including the High Sparrow, his entire Faith Militant, Mace Tyrell (Lord of Highgarden), Loras Tyrell, and Queen Margaery.

Queen Margaery’s death—while tragic for fans of the charismatic schemer—wasn’t completely surprising given her and Cersei’s contemptuous relationship since Season 2. Natalie Dormer called Margaery’s death both “exciting” and “fitting.” She told Harper’s Bazaar, “Margaery’s been battling Cersei for the last however many years and she ends up dying on the show not because she didn’t beat Cersei, but because she trusted that someone else—the Sparrow—was handling her.”

And what a fatal mistake that turned out to be. “She had the reins taken away from her, from being in control of the situation; the High Sparrow took the reins and it proves that he underestimated Cersei in a way that Margaery never would have,” Dormer added. “Margaery is a fatality of the High Sparrow underestimating Cersei.”

Of course, Cersei’s plan wan’t totally unexpected given her fascination with wildfire. In fact, we nearly saw her blow up King’s Landing upon Stannis Baratheon’s raid at the Battle of Blackwater. “If you’re a halfway fanatical fan, wildfire and stuff has been mentioned quite a bit coming up to this moment,” Dormer said. “The subtext is laid so those people who are passionate about the show will probably pick up on some of the clues.”

In blowing up the Sept, Cersei not only got rid of all of her enemies in one kaboom, but she also inadvertently put herself on the Iron Throne after her son Tommen plunged to his own death in the wake of the tragedy. (Honestly, who even wants to rule a shithole like King’s Landing?) “I wasn’t there the day Dean-Charles [Chapman] shot that scene but I heard it was very moving for the crew members who were watching it,” Dormer said.

It’s never easy to say goodbye to a character on Game of Thrones, but there’s something even more upsetting about Margaery’s exit. She knew more than anyone what Cersei was capable of, but she was silenced by the Faith, by the men who thought they knew better. At least the Highgarden rose died knowing she was right—and there’s nothing Margaery loved more than that.